Talduwe Somarama

Talduwe Somarama (27 August 1915-7 July 1962) was a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka who assassinated Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1959.

Biography
Talduwe Somarama was born in Ceylon on 27 August 1915, and he became an ordained Buddhist priest in Kandy in 1936. In 1959, chief priest Mapitigama Buddharakkitha convinced Somarama to assassinate Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike on the grounds that Bandaranaike had not sufficiently carried out his promises to advance the cause of Sinhalese nationalism; the real reason was because Bandaranaike had not granted Buddharakkitha and other special interests leaders construction contracts. Somarama hid a revolver in his robes as he met with Bandaranaike at his home, and Bandaranaike prostrated to greet Somarama in the traditional Buddhist manner. Somarama proceeded to shoot him dead, and he was wounded during the shootout with Bandaranaike's bodyguards. He was sentenced to death in 1961, and he converted to Anglican Christianity on 5 July 1962; two days later, he was hanged.